In Illinois the Supreme Court adopted the “Illinois Rules of Evidence.” They are found here. As a practitioner, it is nice to have what is supposed to be the law on evidence spelled out in a simple document. I had the honor of attending the committee meetings and speaking about an objection to the way they were drafted on a certain technical issue. At the committee the people who drafted the rules indicated that they were not meant to change Illinois law on evidence. In other words, the rules are supposed to describe existing evidence law, not create new law. Since Read more…
Category: Springfield Injury Lawyer Blog
In James Hausman versus Holland America the jury awarded 21.5 million in favor of plaintiff James Hausman. The case took nine days in federal court in Seattle. The plaintiff’s lawyer was Rick Friedman, author of books entitled Rules of the Road and Polarizing the Case, among others. Part 1 of my interview with Rick is below. ADD Rick-Friedman-Interview-Part-1.mp3 AUDIO Part 2 is below. ADD Rick-Friedman-Interview-Part-2.mp3 AUDIO I mentioned the books because they are great reads if you’re a plaintiff’s lawyer. I recommend both Rules of the Road and Polarizing the Case, although I have not read his other books. I Read more…
While in Illinois enforces personal-injury waiver forms, they have to be very specific. This was demonstrated in the case entitled Offord vs Fitness International, LLC (LA Fitness) 2015 IL App (1st) 150879. I suppose at the outset I should disclose that I am a member of LA fitness in Springfield Illinois. The injury we’re discussing occurred in Cook County Illinois, which is about three hours away. I like our local LA fitness, but have no particular affiliation with them other than I work out at one. In Offord, LA fitness had required the person using the facilities to sign a waiver, as Read more…
We had Christine Scott on the air with her lawyer quite some time ago to discuss her trial over vaginal mesh case. Partially as a result, James Ackerman got involved in some vaginal mesh litigation and is actively interested in these issues. There are currently 70,000 vaginal mesh cases pending in federal court in a multi-district litigation. Vaginal mesh is the biggest type of civil lawsuit pending in federal court. All the rest of other cases pending in all the federal courts do not total number of vaginal mesh cases pending. Christine Scott filed a complaint against Bard entered Dr. Read more…
As an attorney who handles medical negligence, workers compensation and other injury claims I see and talk to numerous people who have bad surgical results. Quite frankly, many of them are not necessarily the doctors’ fault. On the other hand, there are clearly too many medical complications. This is been studied many times. The studies conclude that patients who go to the hospital take a risk in going there. To a large extent, the outcome of a given procedure is not in the hands of the patient. It is very difficult for patients to know what physician is good at Read more…
The Illinois Supreme Court took the Turcois v Debruler case. We reported about the appellate decision here. This case involved a fascinating set of facts. The plaintiff rented an apartment by the defendant. The defendant, within 30 days of the plaintiff rented the property, began knocking the building down around the plaintiff and his family. The family and the defendant were obviously upset by the defendant’s conduct. The plaintiffs’ decedent then committed suicide. The details are reported in the case; I will not re-state them all here. The appellate court had held that the plaintiff could pursue the cause of action for Read more…
Zofran (ondansetron) is an antinausea drug. It is intended for significant nausea issues caused by things like chemotherapy. However, Glaxo SmithKline also marketed it for use with pregnant women. The problem was that Glaxo SmithKline had failed to do any testing of the drug with pregnant women. In 2006, prior to its becoming available in a generic form, Zofran was among the top selling drugs in the United States. The FDA estimated that number nearly a quarter of Zofran prescriptions were given to pregnant women. As early as 2006, in a study published in Hong Kong, concerns were raised about Read more…
We had the honor of having George Patrick, a workers compensation lawyer from Indiana, on the radio on Saturday, March 14, 2015, Pi day. This is especially interesting to me because I have heard so many people talk about the differences between the Illinois Worker’s Compensation system in the Indiana Workers Compensation System. Some people believe that Illinois should save money by following in the footsteps of Indiana. This interview followed the recent ProPublic/NPR report about how states are demolishing their workers compensation systems. Judges have called the modern workers compensation systems “inhumane” according to ProPublica/NPR. In the same week, OSHA (Labor Read more…
In worker’s compensation claims employees and employers typically put medical records of the petitioner and evidence. The doctors are often not usually called as witnesses. Recent changes to the Worker’s Compensation Act provided for a simple method of entering records into evidence. Medical records are typically allowed into evidence if they are subpoenaed by a party. However, doctors’ notes that are prepared for litigation purposes are typically hearsay and not allowed. In that context, the case entitled RG Construction Services vs the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Commission came up. In RG Construction the petitioner injured his knee at work when he fell off the stilts Read more…
If the petitioner has two cases the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission can award both a permanent partial disability award and a wage loss differential award. Go here to see a video of me discussing the case Deerfield case with TJ Hart on Let’s Talk Law. In the case entitled Deerfield vs the Illinois Worker’s Compensation Commission the appellate court ruled that a petitioner who is injured twice at work can receive award for both permanent partial disability and wage loss. In Deerfield, both cases were consolidated because they both involve the same workplace and the same injured worker. The workplace (Respondent) tried to argue that Petitioner Read more…